Simeon Whidden (1754 - 1800)

Born 1754 in Nottingham, Rockingham, New Hampshire

Ancestors

Husband of Dorothy (Blair) Whidden — married 1777 in Middle Stewiacke, Nova Scotia

Descendants

Died 1800 at about age 46 in Middle Stewiacke, Nova Scotia

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Biography

Simeon Whidden was the son of James Whidden, and Abigail Sanborn^[1]. He was born on 1754 in Nottingham, New Hampshire.

Simeon was brought to Nova Scotia when he was about six years old, when his family migrated.

In 1775 when Simeon was 21, he married Dorothy Blair, daughter of Capt. William Blair and Jane Barnes. They had the following children:

1. Mary (11 Sep 1778-)
2. James (11 Jul 1780-)
3. Sarah (1782-11 Feb 1871)
4. William (11 Apr 1784-Feb 1857)
5. Simeon (17 May 1786-25 Oct 1859)
6. Robert (2 Apr 1788-1 Apr 1834)
7. Rev. John Blair (21 Nov 1791-19 Jul 1864)
8. Dorothy (29 May 1794-4 Sep 1850)
9. David (1796-19 Jul 1882)
10. Jane Blair (22 Jan 1798-8 Mar 1890)
11. Abigail. Born in 1799 in Middle Stewiacke, NS. She was never married.

When Simeon married Dorothy, her sister's husband arranged with a number of the male guests to run off with the bride immediately after the marriage ceremony. One of them took Dorothy in front of his saddle, and they rode away on horseback. Simeon Whidden followed his "runaway bride" and captured her. One person connected with this most novel wedding tour had a leg broken by a fall from his horse.

Dorothy and Simeon settled in Middle Stewiacke about the year 1782. He was a farmer. Simeon was the third settler in the Valley, after James Kennedy and Samuel Teas. In March 1786 a grant of land was made to Simeon Whidden and five others, containing in all 2,500 acres. In January 1800, he was loading logs in the woods, when a log rolled on him and broke his leg. He died three days later.

Dorothy was the first settler in Middle Stewiacke to be left a widow.

When James Downing asked the consent of Dorothy to the marriage of her daughter, young Dorothy (b. May 29, 1794), she objected, on account of "his being rather wild^[2]." "O," said he, "don't you know that a wild colt always makes a fine horse?" "Ah, yes," she replied, "but I think it looks rather dark now." "You forget," he replied, "that a foggy morning always turns out a fine day." "Take her, take her, I can make nothing of ye." she replied.

Simeon appeared on the 1795 tax records in Middle Stewiacke, Colchester, Nova Scotia. ^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ Whidden Family Register Report. H. Douglas Goff, 2019. Citing
   • The Whidden Family of Nova Scotia, 1973, by Miss Helen H. Whidden and her nephew Phillip Whidden Barlow
   • The Whidden Family of Colchester, by Jane Currie Wile.
   • Whidden, Paul David and Raymond Marvin Whidden. 2007. Whidden: NH, NS and beyond, 1662-2002. A Family Odyssey. 2 Volumes.
2. ↑ Israel Longworth's History of Colchester County, Nova Scotia (circa 1886), pg.26; Stewiacke 1780-1900: The Centenary Celebration, pg. 120.
3. ↑ Nova Scotia Archives. Nova Scotia Tax Records. Simeon Whidden. 1795, Middle Stewiacke, Colchester, Nova Scotia. Poll Tax Roll.